Out of the Shadows
by KosagiNoLegion
Summary: Shadow of Destiny Fic: Eike's battle to save himself is over... Or is it? My attempt to reconcile the game's endings. COMPLETE!
1. A Most Delightful Paradox

Out of the Shadows (version 2.0)

A "Shadows of Destiny" Revamp Fic

(Shadows of Destiny is copyrighted to Konami)

By

Deborah Brown

(Authorial Note: I wrote the original set up for this with an idea of simply resolving a paradox that *I* didn't like, never mind time. Never thought I'd find any decent fanfic on the web for the series and really hadn't meant to do more than a simple – here's a solution to the problem – story. Unfortunately (or fortunately) another writer with an even better fic that goes in a different direction than mine has inspired me to improve on the original story. So… here it is – about three times as long and simply stuffed with action.)

      Somewhere in the past, a slender blonde stumbled and leaned against the nearest wall, feeling the rush of time coming at him. Coming at him and wiping him out of existence. In the house nearby, a family had been healed and in that healing, changing the future that had healed it…__

Changing time…

And changing again…

      A slender blonde walked through the streets of Lebensbaum, his long green coat hanging around his slim body. Behind him a shadow lurked, small, childish but with malice in its heart. Something flew out at the man – aimed for his back.

      Eike Kusche grunted in pain as he was struck and knocked to his knees. "Oh… a ball." He picked up the soccer ball and turned to find a boy with familiar features standing there. Shaking his head he carried the ball to him and patted his head, sending the boy on his way.

_      In the past, time shifted and twisted, shape returning to another, older pattern. Eyes red as blood, red as fire, opened to face their creator for what felt like the thousandth time. Birth. Death. Using and being used. All twisted up in a tangled knot of paradox. How many times has it been? How many times to follow? He sighed and prepared to begin again._

      Eike grinned as he continued walking. _Kid looked like Hugo. Must be a descendent._ What a world. For a moment he'd thought the whole thing had begun again. Death after death, averted by moving backwards through time and changing the circumstances around those deaths, a cycle repeated over and over with different solutions, none truly satisfactory. Sudden understanding of the continuous loop he'd been caught in and a way to circumvent it. His would be killer had believed him to be the cause of his father's death and had come forward from the 1500s to stop him, just as he had gone into Hugo's time to change the shape of the present by preventing a tree from being planted. Only by bringing a cure for Hugo's mother in the form of the philosopher's stone before she died could resolve the problem once and for all.

      It had been a strange sequence, fraught with paradox and confusion and even now Eike wasn't sure he understood what'd happened. All he knew was that it was over and his future was as secure as any man's could be. _Though I have to wonder about the Homunculus. Was he really a demon? A djinn? Or something else incomprehensible?_

      That was when the knife blade struck…

      With a final and definite twist, time reseated itself. As he died for what seemed like the hundredth time, Eike seemed to see an image in the back of his mind. An old, old, man shattering a glass jar. "Come forth, Homunculus. I have a task for you…"

_      Birth and death of a different sort. Changing and being changed. Killing and being killed. Was there ever an end to the variations? Or was this all there ever was in his existence. What kind of perks did such an immortality truly have, after all, when it consisted of the same few centuries repeated for eternity, most of which were spent hiding outside time to keep that psychotic brat from catching up? And that boy thinks his one day is hell?_

      "How do you feel?"

      Eike sat up in a place he knew only too well. A place that he sensed stood outside time. Strangely misshapen furniture stood around him, a window allowing light the gleam against a giant stone face, a twisted grandfather clock… "Oh no… I'm dead _again_! But _why_?"

      A confused sound came from Homunculus up on his perch. "Eh?"

      Eike stopped himself from answering the questioning tone. Instead he responded the way he had so many times before. "Am I… dead?"

      "Bingo," the voice held a faint tone of relief, as if his momentary shift from his usual answer had worried its owner. From there on, Eike was extremely careful about his answers, forcing himself to behave the same way he had before, even to accusing Homunculus of being Satan. _And I'm not far off, am I? If the Fortune Teller – Helena – was right, he's an evil djinn. Somehow I have to break myself free of his clutches._

_      Fool that he was to try again, he watched the boy remember too much and try so very hard to make him believe otherwise. It had failed the last time, Eike was inexperienced in all the paradoxes of time, paradoxes that would wipe away one's efforts without thought or care. He, on the other hand, knew time as intimately as a lover, needed it in ways that he could not possibly explain, and – occasionally – hated it beyond imagining. Memories of other times, other loops returned to him. This boy, telling him –_ him _– what he ought not do. Telling him he shouldn't interfere with people's lives that way… Lecture _me_, will you, little one? Teach your grandmother to suck eggs before you decide you understand._

      Woken by Dana in the café, Eike paused long enough to examine the table, hoping against hope to find the Philosopher's stone there already. There was nothing, though, just as was the case the last time he'd gone through this particular sequence. "I'm not going to get Dana into a mess with me," he muttered to himself. "If I can prevent her from getting caught in the trap I will."

      His muttered comments drew a raised brow from the man he was passing. He ignored it in favor of walking towards the Fortune Teller's house and hesitating at the door. _What can she tell me? That I'm fated to die at 2:30? I know that already._ Nervously he glanced around for Hugo. Drat that boy anyway. Someone either spanked him too often or not enough. _All right, Eike. Think. Taking the stone back and curing Helena didn't do a bit of good. Why not?_

      Then it hit him. "Oh damn. Of course. The paradox!"

      Now he'd attracted the sour stare of the middle-aged woman whose face he was beginning to loathe on general principals. How a woman like that had managed to breed in the first place was beyond him… and that daughter… looking just like her… _and you're ignoring the issue, stupid. Get with the program._

      Now he understood why he was back to square one, if not why he was in this situation in the first place. Curing Helena had meant Homunculus was never born _or freed or… whatever…_ and if Homunculus was never born he couldn't send Eike back in time. If Eike didn't go back in time, he would never go back to bring the cure to the blind woman, meaning that whatever the circumstances were that had led to Homunculus' original freeing were brought back into play. Fate was a bitch, and that was all there was to it.

      He pulled out the digipad and examined it. Such a delicate, elegant, device. How did it work? If Hugo figured it out by just looking at it – admittedly after years of research – then was it possible for him to use it to go somewhere _other_ than those times it had offered ordinarily? And if so, why should he? _When_ should he?

      Reminded by his watch that his time was getting short, Eike hurriedly used the pad to take himself back to 2pm. He took a moment, though, to slip the back cover off and examine the interior. Unlike modern electronics, it contained a tiny ruby chip. He suspected he knew what the chip was and – just possibly – how to use it. "Yes… I think I can do it. Once I've gotten past this crisis."

      Once again he gathered folk to the square. Once again he returned to his proper time and once again he watched the juggler – himself, or _some_ time's version of himself, he knew – perform, the number of people preventing Hugo from killing him _that_ time at least. "Next it's the fire," Eike muttered to himself. "Right. I need to get the stone – now – before Dana gets caught up in this. Then back to Hugo's time_._" He would turn the tables on Homunculus if it was the last thing he did.

_      So. Going to try again, are we? What changes do you think you can accomplish that I've not already tried. Very well. Do your worst… or your best, little one. It won't change a thing. He knew that now, knew it with dismal certainty. Nothing… absolutely nothing… would change things. No matter how he might wish for it. Well, there was one thing he could do to change it, but accepting _that_ particular end was beyond him. No. Not that. Never that.. He was tired, weary to the very depths of what might be called his soul, but there was still some fight left in him, some last dregs of resistance that would not accept _that_ end. Better to be wiped out and start over, again and again and _again_ for all eternity than take that route._

      Dana seemed surprised to find him waiting for her outside the cafe and rather disappointed that he wasn't there out of interest. _I only wish,_ he thought to himself regretfully. With the troubles hanging over his head, though, it seemed only cruelty to involve himself with someone. He made his excuses and evaded the girl before hurrying over to the fire. "I need to nearly die to use the pad," he realized. "Use the fire as a death event, then back into Margrete's time for some tree prevention. Just – don't give Wagner the stone – not until I figure out a way to do this without a paradox. Or get Homunculus to do it."

      The last seemed the most likely possibility. Eike was human, powerless, where Homunculus had incredible abilities. Healing Helena had to be within his power. All he had to do was find Homunculus, perhaps a much younger, less sophisticated Homunculus, and force him back into Helena's time. Given, of course, that he could figure out the digipad.

      The problem of the fire was easy, but Eike noted a faint worried tone in Homunculus' voice during his brief visit to that being's messed up little world. He did his best to hide the fact that he realized it, though, not wanting to risk Homunculus interfering with his plans. Thus, once he was in the fire, he used the digipad but focused on the idea of going back to Margarete's time. He wasn't quite sure how it worked, but it did. Somehow.

      Standing in the middle of the town square at night, listening to the squabbling villagers, Eike shook his head and pulled out his lighter with a disgusted expression. As usual, they scattered, terrified of what he might do to him. _I'm getting so tired of this routine._ For once, though, instead of pausing to talk to visit Margarete's family – despite her invitation - he found a quiet, torchlit, corner and considered his next move.

      "What I need," Eike muttered to himself, "is to find out where the Philosopher's stone came from." He gazed, consideringly, at the stone, examining its ruby depths with interest. "It feels so warm… so alive. Must be Homunculus' life force."

      Opening the digipad again, he considered the smaller ruby chip inside. "And I bet you're a part of him. I wonder… if I draw a pentagram around _you_ would you take me where and when I _want_ to go, even if there's no reason for me to be there?" He shrugged, taking out a small nub of pencil and beginning to draw.

      The chip in the digipad didn't react physically to pentagram, nor – Eike felt – did it seem 'aware' of the symbol's presence. _Not a heartening thought._ Still, it was worth a try. "Take me to the place and time where Homunculus was truly born," he ordered and felt time dilate around him.

      The next thing he knew, he was standing in the basement of the Wagner's house. It wasn't easy to recognize, for it was filled with pieces of old junk. At its center, though, was a familiar decanter and – in that decanter – a slender human-seeming body. A slender _naked_ body. So – not a djinn after all, at least as _he_ understood them. Someone _had_ created Homunculus. Someone who was crouched over the decanter. A thin, too tall, man. Eike nearly gasped aloud. _Hugo? But…_ Yet, strangely, it made sense. It had been Hugo who'd been obsessed over his mother's death. If he created Homunculus, made him capable of controlling time…

      The old old man didn't seem to notice Eike's presence. He simply examined the decanter carefully, expression satisfied. Eike, watching from behind some of the junk – oddly familiar junk, he realized – had a strange feeling of deja-vu, even though he'd never seen this particular scene before. Then he remembered… Homunculus' "home". He must have created it that way because this was the first place he knew. _What a strange, sad, thing… No! I can't let myself pity him. He's using me. If I pity him I'm just falling deeper into his trap._ He held his breath, not daring to move as Hugo stepped back and used his cane to shatter the glass and spill its contents onto the floor.

      The tiny, fragile, body lay in a heap before Hugo. "Get up, slave. Get _up_. I created you to a purpose and…" Homunculus rose to his feet, standing there, nude, genderless body limned red-gold by the firelight. He swayed, stepped sideways in that peculiar awkward motion that showed better than anything else how unaccustomed he was to a physical form – _like a marionette pulling its own strings – with no idea how a human body moves_. Still, his expression was disdainful, causing Hugo to stop before he could complete whatever it was he'd planned to say.

      "And it isn't possible. Hit me all you want and I'll tell you the same…" Homunculus' voice held a world of despair. Despair given justification, for Hugo's free hand lashed out angrily. The thin, too fragile, body fell to the ground, even though the old man's attack was surely not strong enough to batter a flea, much less a man of Homunculus' small stature.

      _He asked for it, though, surely,_ Eike thought. _He didn't even give Hugo a chance to talk._ He only wished he could convince himself. If this was truly the start of Homunculus' life, then maybe he had some good reason for not being especially helpful. Again he shoved a moment of pity aside. If it _was_ the start then why would he react so negatively to his creator?

      Slowly, without expression, Homunculus regained his feet, swayed once, then crossed his arms and said, "You can hit me. You can even kill me. It changes nothing. Your family's happiness cannot be restored. Your mother cannot be saved." 

      "You can't know…"

      "You gave me power over time. Does it not stand to reason I can see the results of my attempt? I cannot save your mother without creating a paradox."

      "Paradox be damned, homunculus! I gave you power over time in order to save her. I don't care how you do it…" The old man's rage was terrible to see.

      "Yadda yadda. All right. I'll become a jewel, the philosopher's stone, I think you alchemists call it. This will take you to the past, to your father…" Eike blinked. The thing Homunculus handed Hugo looked almost exactly like the digipad, if somewhat less complicated. "If he uses it to recreate me, I will be able to help him achieve whatever goal he seeks. I'm sure he wants your mother's survival, just as you do."

      Eike swallowed. What a manipulative little bastard Homunculus was. How could he play on Hugo's feelings like that? He held his tongue though, watching as Homunculus did something that created clothing on himself – the well remembered dark silk shirt, harem pants and sash – then seemed to sink to the ground and reshape himself into a large ruby stone. Eike touched the stone in his pocket for reassurance, even as Hugo picked the newly created one up, touched the button on the digipad and disappeared.

      _Eh. I'd better follow. Find out what happens next._ Eike wondered, as he fiddled with the digipad and concentrated on his next goal, if perhaps he was making a mistake. Was he just stalking the fragile little djinn or did he have an idea in mind?

_      The boy had disappeared into those early days without his being certain what was planned, perhaps because the boy didn't know himself. The turmoil of the boy's thoughts no longer disturbed his peaceful little world, no longer echoed in his mind with unspoken fears and angers. Oddly, the peace disturbed him, the boy's absence an almost tangible thing._

_      It worried him, what Eike was doing back there. Only the knowledge that nothing short of recreating him in that time would result in any real change of consequence kept him from panicking. As for the remote possibility that Eike would think to try such a thing – it was simply so highly unlikely that he had no reason to think about it. Besides, he'd never convince those stubborn fools of the need… Wait… what is he doing in _that_ time? What is he planning? Jumping around like a hopping flea, entering times not his own, only because the digipad's power source had existed then. _

_      My birth… no… Why go then? Still, nothing of that time could be changed without creating yet another paradox that time would not allow. He ought not panic, yet the knowledge that the boy was seeing him at his weakest, most defenseless, comforted him not at all. The jump was soon followed by another – once more into the time he could neither see nor enter._

      Eike blinked as he found that the digipad may have moved him through time but it certainly hadn't changed locations. _Everything seems to start here, doesn't it,_ he thought. _What's betting this time period is _after _Helena died?_ He noted the decanter and the slender figure curled up inside. A tall man, familiar to Eike as his own face by now, was standing over it, examining the thing. The scene was almost perfect twin to the one he'd just witnessed in a later time. Of course the figure hunched over the decanter was Hugo's father and, more tellingly, Homunculus was dressed now in those dark silks.

      Eike dodged behind a cabinet. This room was neater than Hugo's lab in the future, but even here were corners to hide in, especially from a man in deep concentration. "It's too bad that poor man died bringing you to me," Wolfgang Wagner murmured. "I'm sure he would have wanted to see the results of his labor. Still, we won't waste his time, will we?" He sighed. "Ahhh, Helena, if only you'd lived..."

      Somehow it came as no surprise to Eike that Hugo had died before he could talk to his father in this time. No doubt Homunculus had meant for that to happen. No surprise, either, that the smaller digipad had only brought Hugo far enough back to reach his father, not to save his mother. No, Homunculus wouldn't want _that_, now would he?

      Eike clenched his fists, watching the proceedings with increasing tension. When Homunculus broke free, this time with far more elegance of motion than when Hugo'd created him and made an offer for Wagner's immortal soul in return for a single wish, he decided to take a chance. He leaped forward, one hand reaching out to grasp Homunculus' wrist, heard two startled cries even as he hit the digipad. _Back to that time with the tree,_ he thought angrily. _This time you'll fix the problem yourself!_

_      This wasn't what he expected. His future self felt the force of the change, could see and feel everything his past self was experiencing. No. Death awaited. He couldn't go to that time… Not as he was… It was killing him to try. A silent scream started as his body began to shatter under the stress._

      Time dilated around Eike and he found himself spinning through the time passage again, one hand latched tightly on the frail wrist of his long term tormenter. Except Homunculus sounded nothing like he usually did. The calm, amused, superior voice had been replaced by sheer terror. "Let me go… I can't… not this way…"

      "You're going to fix things, this time," Eike yelled back, startled at how slowly things were going this time. It was almost as if Homunculus' presence in the passage was dragging things to a crawl.

      "I can't… I can't… let me go…" Homunculus' voice was desperate and Eike turned a furious glare on the man only to nearly release his grip in shock. Homunculus was fading, body dissipating into its component atoms with ever quickening speed. "You're killing me…" he gasped, then, looking down at his lost mass, whimpered a single "No" and was gone, hand falling to dust within Eike's grasp.

      The passage opened out, dropping Eike into the dirt again. Only this time he felt, or seemed to hear, a rushing sound. A terrible twisting rushing that led only to oblivion.


	2. Fortune & Misfortune

Out of the Shadows (version 2.0) – Part 2

A "Shadows of Destiny" Revamp Fic

(Shadows of Destiny is copyrighted to Konami)

By

Deborah Brown

      A slender blonde walked through the streets of Lebensbaum, his long green coat hanging around his slim body. Behind him a shadow lurked, small, childish but with malice in its heart. Something flew out at the man – aimed for his back.

      Once again Eike Kushe died.

_      Stupid. How could he be so stupid? He should just create the boy without so many memories. Or use Wagner himself again. Don't try to be clever. Don't let him try to be clever. Just… He sagged. Just one more time. One more try. It can't hurt anymore than everything else has, can it? He wondered what it was that was driving this hope. Hope hurt. Hurts so much… He ought to just let it go and go back to those old, _known_, ways. Still, what's the worst that could happen? The plaintive thought echoed through his tiny world._

      "How do you feel?"

      Eike sighed. How many times was he going to have to go through this? A faint frown crossed his face. How many times had _Homunculus_ gone through it? He wanted to demand the creature tell him what had just happened, why he'd been destroyed in the time stream like that. He controlled time, surely. How could it kill him? Instead he went ahead with the usual pattern. _Try try again, I guess. Without any help to get it right._

_      He was back in _that_ time again. That time outside of his own existence. So quiet without the boy's raging human feelings and occasional thoughts scattering through his mind. Unexpected, that. He'd formed the connection between them that last time – to keep the boy under closer watch and he was not sure now if that was such a good idea. It had been quieter, easier to bear, when Eike had been Wagner made young. When the fool hadn't forced his destruction. Missing him? Not possible. Not possible. Don't be the kind of stupid, sentimental, fool _he_ is. Then why was it he waited and listened for Eike's presence? Why did he watch his window into time with desperate concentration. Why did he want him back?_

      Once again in the middle ages, in a time he felt was safe from Homunculus' interference, Eike considered the problem again. Taking Homunculus to this time didn't work. Eike didn't understand why, but time travel – at least the sort provided by the digipad – would kill the created being. _All right. That failed. What else can I try?_

      He puzzled over the question, examining his memories. Scrutinizing the bits of knowledge he'd gleaned through the many time-loops he'd experienced. The memory of lying down in the middle of the town square, only to be run over by a car… _That was stupid. So very stupid. But I don't understand. Why so many versions?_

      Something Homunculus had said came back to him. "I've played through this history a few times…" How many? He counted endings in his head as best he could remember. With the addition of his last effort now, eight – and this one would probably be the ninth. _Three certainly isn't the charm, now is it?_ He shoved the weak joke aside and pondered those endings.

      _If Hugo is the one who created Homunculus, then those endings where he died – or was destroyed, whatever – would be paradoxical._ Hugo being removed from the time line too early in his life to create Homunculus would mean everything else would fall apart. For that matter, even if he hadn't created Homunculus, his creation – in old age – of the time machine he'd used to follow Eike wouldn't happen either. _And it seems time is simply not going to permit paradox to exist._

      As for those rare two times when Hugo didn't die… paradox could still occur if the events he'd experienced in the future had made him change his mind. _Let's assume that's the case for a moment. _If it was true, then perhaps, by trying all those histories, Homunculus was trying to work out a pattern that time would permit to continue… _Or is he? There's not that many different possibilities and I have this feeling I've repeated them hundreds of times. As if he's _trying_ to keep the paradox going. Why? It forces him to start at the beginning too, doesn't it?_

      A thought occurred to Eike. Perhaps there was something that was going to happen in the future? Something that Homunculus didn't want to face, didn't want to reach. Perhaps he was using the paradox to ensure he never did? Sourly, Eike wondered exactly what that meant for the rest of them. _What right does he have to drag us through this?_ he wondered. _This whole thing has to stop._

      All right, so if there was something in the time ahead that Homunculus feared then it might well prove an ally. "Forward," he ordered the digipad, once more marked with a pentagram to control it. "Forward past the end…" He'd never seen that time, he realized, as the time passage formed and carried him away. He wondered what it would be like.

_      The boy's next time jump left him breathless and puzzled and NO. Not glad… He's a tool… just a tool to keep things going… Isn't he? It awed him, really, how Eike managed to control the digipad so well and still have so little understanding of time. And what was he going to do there? Not that it really mattered. There was nothing the boy could do in this time to interfere. Was there? He felt uneasy, but could not put a finger on why._

      What the future was like was, apparently, something he wasn't going to find out. Eike stared, watching himself and Hugo talking in the square, Hugo's raging fury almost palpable. This was just the end of the loop. Why couldn't he get any further, he wondered.

      Maybe it was time to ask some questions. "She knows a lot more than she admits," he determined. The Fortune Teller, Helena's bound spirit he reminded himself. An ally was needed and _she_ was at least on his side – or seemed to be. More, something about her had bothered Homunculus. He set off at a dead run, knowing that there couldn't be much time between that moment and the final stages of the loop.

      The scent of incense was thick in the air as Eike opened the door and walked over to the chair, finding a seat. "I already know Homunculus is a djinn," he told the figure across from him. "That you're Helena. Can you tell me anything more?"

      The false image of a woman enrobed in silk started slightly. "There are changes in you, Eike. You are not the Eike I have seen in other timelines…" As Eike's emerald eyes blinked at her, the spirit sighed. "He destroyed you… the you he always used before… in the past. Now I see how he resolved it. But – at long last – he has erred. Given you too much memory, let you realize the truth of your circumstances."

      "What… what do you mean?" _I'm not going to like the answer, am I? I know it. Oh man do I know I'm not._

      "In other times you were my husband, Wolfgang Wagner."

      Dead silence.

      "I am sorry. This must be a shock to you." The spirit seemed to regard Eike with gentle concern. "Poor boy. You've gone through so much and now…"

      "If I was Wolfgang and he destroyed me, then… _what am I_?" Eike wrapped his long arms around himself. "WELL? " He hated the plaintive whine in his voice. So like Hugo's. If he had been Wagner once, that explained why, but he didn't have to like it.__

      Helena's spirit sighed. "It seems you are a copy. A creation of that… creature's." Hate filled her tone. Hate so thick Eike thought that it would have destroyed him if he'd been its target. "Don't be afraid, Eike. It is not your fault. All his. Using us, all of us… to ensure his birth… his creation."

      "Then we have to stop him," Eike said firmly. "This can't go on." He sensed a smile of agreement from the woman. "Do you know what it is he fears? What lies ahead of this time that he's trying to avoid?"

      "Yes. Me." The bitter hatred was still there, still palpable. "I was able, in two other – long ago - timelines, to capture him. The memory is not mine, but I can see the marks of those patterns of time in the void. They are distant, nearly washed away by other patterns, but I see them. I was able to bend him to my will. He is bound to come to me by the force of those other times. Only the never-ending loops that he has created prevent this eventuality. Break the loop, Eike, and he will be mine once more. And _this_ time I will never let him go."

_      The boy was up to something. Something he thought was clever. The trouble was the few thoughts Eike had had on the subject had all involved secrecy. Secrecy so close that he wasn't even daring think about the matter. It involved that woman, though. That terrible woman. He was becoming afraid but dared not interfere just yet. Not until he knew the plan. They didn't understand how much power he had. What he could do. They would learn, however. They would learn. How bad could it be, fool? I have a feeling I'm going to find out._

      Eike thought through the long established pattern, choosing what path he'd take carefully to ensure Hugo's survival and his own. Before he did, however, he had one more thing he had to do. Choosing a time before Homunculus' re-creation by Wagner senior, he took Hugo aside for a long talk.

      "Listen. Things are going to get really strange in the future. Your father's going to disappear and it's going to be because of a creature called Homunculus."

      Blue eyes stared into his puzzledly. "I don't understand…"

      "You're smart enough to create a time machine based on one view of mine," Eike replied, bothered as ever by the slight whine in the boy's voice. "You're going to have to do that… and one more thing…"

      Hugo frowned, "What?"

      "Create Homunculus." Carefully explaining his plan, but avoiding telling the boy what he would do to his mother's spirit, he drew in the dirt in front of them. When he was done, the blue eyes blinked for a long moment and Eike could see the boy's mental gears turning. _You know, I think he's smarter than_ I_ was… or rather Wagner._ The fact that he was a copy of the alchemist rankled. Yet another thing to pay Homunculus back for. "You have to do both. Your future self will need to bring the time machine back to the day Homunculus is freed and give it to you in the now… Then you'll have to try and kill me. Don't worry, I'll have a way to keep you from getting me. Homunculus will see to that because he needs me."

      Hugo considered the plan for a long while. "All right. I'll do it," he agreed. "I just wish…"

      "Yes?"

      "There was a way to get him back to _this_ time and save mother, instead. You say he has all that power…"

      "Don't try. It creates another paradox. One we can't afford." Eike got to his feet and checked his time. "Gotta go, Hugo. I don't dare make him suspicious."

_      Over again. He watched the pattern end with curiosity. Surely the triumphant feeling of certainty Eike was exuding had a purpose. Going to kill me, little one? Go ahead. I have my ways of dealing with such a problem. He waited for the young woman and her brother to leave to find out exactly what Eike planned._

      At last he'd reached the end of the pattern. Hugo and Margarete were just returning to their own time and Dana was there with him. To Eike's relief, Hugo gave him a quick wink as they left the square, telling him the boy remembered what they'd talked about before and would follow through. _Good enough… Now for Homunculus._

      As he'd done so many times before, he tried to get Homunculus to understand the wrong he was doing. Not that he expected any positive result from that. Homunculus was what he was and if what he was wasn't an evil djinn as Helena thought, he wasn't a very nice creature either. Cruel, manipulative. _And going to pay,_ Eike thought as he handed the creature his digipad. His digipad with the tiny pentagram inscribed on it.

      The created being accepted the device, reabsorbing it into himself, "Thank… ahhh…" His sharp frightened gasp was strangely flat, missing that faint echo that Eike had long grown accustomed to. The ruby eyes widened and the slender body stiffened into immobility. "What… have you… _done_?"

      "Put a spoke in your wheels for once and all," Eike replied coolly. _I hope._ "Now be quiet and wait. Dana? Do you mind if I take a rain check? Homunculus and I have to go see an old acquaintance."

      The girl wasn't terribly happy with him, but accepted the request after a certain amount of grumbling. _I'll have to make it up to her… tomorrow… if there _is_ a tomorrow for me._ He wasn't certain of that, even now. Homunculus was a slippery customer. He might still have a trick up his sleeve, even if this wasn't a path he was accustomed to.

      Turning to the slender man standing silently on the steps of the town hall, he examined Homunculus carefully. No movement, eyes watching him without emotion. Or was there a flicker of something raging in the depths of those blood tinted orbs? "All right," he told Homunculus at last. "Come with me."

      Long legs carried him over the pavement quickly. He wanted to get this over with and his anxiety over whether this new plan would work drove him to hurry. Homunculus followed at a more sedate speed, but fast enough that when he caught up with Eike he was moving clumsily, stumbling over small dips in the pavement, like a child reaching the end of its strength. "In," Eike said. It was obvious he'd tired the little man out – just by that short trot – and that Homunculus was still walking only because he was forced to. _Such a fragile body… So terribly weak._  Eike forced away sympathy.

      Ruby eyes glanced his way and they were so filled with despair that – had Eike not steeled himself – the young blonde might have relented. They were the eyes of a man going to the executioner. Then, still silent, Homunculus walked in, followed by Eike.

_      He struggled against the geas. So this was the little one's plan. A bargain with _her_ to bring him here. A vision of time in the past showed him something else. He was being created. By the very Hugo who had fought to destroy Eike. Thus creating a loop that could, given no interference, mean this path would remain stable. Given no interference, of course. You still don't understand, do you, boy… Don't understand my power any more than you understand my limits. All right. Play it out. Let us see what the boy does with the knowledge. He could bear it. Could bear the pain about to be inflicted. Can't I?_

      Inside the Fortune Teller's house – once Wagner's – things had changed entirely. There was only an empty room, charred walls grey and ancient. "Did you think to escape forever?" Helena's voice asked softly. "Come to me, Homunculus."

      Homunculus didn't move, standing at the entry way with silent resentment like a cloud around his thin form. "Go," Eike said roughly. "Do as she says. Everything she says."

      It was obvious from the way he moved that Homunculus was fighting every step of the way. The geas of the pentagram that he'd taken back into his Self, however, kept him from escape. He stopped in the middle of the room, head down, body looking very small in the looming shadows.

      _Why am I pitying him?_ Eike wondered. This man had made such a mess of his life that Eike didn't know if it would ever untangle. If it _could_ ever untangle. Yet he was standing at the room's center, at the center of Helena's attention, in a posture of utter and complete hopelessness. The waves of hatred, the pressure, Helena's will was putting on him was enormous and growing. The hatred of 500 years of entrapment, pouring out on a single, helpless, target.

      Eike swallowed, glad not to be the focus of that attention. He could only imagine what was happening to the man who was. Homunculus wasn't moving, wasn't breathing hard – if at all, but Eike could sense anguish, desolation… total and complete misery. He didn't know why, but he moved forward, to a position where he could see Homunculus' expression, the ruby eyes wide and lost in the pale face. _Oh god… _This went against everything he felt he believed in. Against all the kindness he naturally felt. He might kill a serpent trying to bite him out of self-preservation, but he wouldn't torture it first. _What are we doing? What have _I _done?_

      "Do you know what we've done?" Helena asked, echoing Eike's internal query without the shame that the young blonde felt. "Speak."

      "Don't…" Homunculus' voice was soft, a faint edge of the torment he was enduring making the tone ragged. "Let… me… go…"

      "ANSWER ME!"

      "I know." A faint, bitter smile accompanied the words. "It won't work."

      "Why not? You can't break free by ending the loop. Hugo will, or has, created you _and_ the time device. There is no paradox for time to wipe away."

      Homunculus managed a shrug and Eike had a feeling the movement had cost him horribly. "There is if I don't recreate Eike, don't give him the memories he needs to accomplish this. You hold me here only in this point of time. The part of me not so bound will simply change the past and prevent this future." The soft voice was sweet, mocking even in this moment of agony. "No pentagram can hold me entire, Helena. Not when I exist as a single entity throughout these few short centuries." The words drove Helena's spirit into a frothing rage. Eike felt it tower around the tiny figure, felt the wave break and crash upon him.

      _God, Homunculus, can't you show a bit of weakness, even now? She won't stop until she has you down. The harder you resist, the harder she's going to beat on you._ He had to wonder what drove the man to fight so hard. Misplaced pride, or something else? Something deeper, closer to the bone. A need for self-command, for self-mastery. For self-respect in a world that used him and left him fallen by the wayside when the need for him seemed over. Eike wondered how he knew that and – unnoticed – clenched his fists.

      For a time Homunculus endured, still wearing that sweet, superior little smile, though his eyes showed the effort it took to stay standing. For a time he seemed able to take against anything Helena threw at him. Then, shaking, his hands raised to his temples. "Stop…" he whimpered. "Oh please… stop…" His body was trembling under the force of her anger.

      Eike saw a non-corporeal hand form out of the darkness. A hand that reached out and _into_ the skull of its victim. Now Homunculus did scream, body convulsing under that touch and collapsing in on itself to lie quivering and shuddering on the floor – her hand still clenched within him.

_      He'd fought the agony as long as he could. Played along as long as he could. No real changes here, then, though she was being kinder than those other times – Eike's presence holding her back, perhaps. Still, no change. No resolution. _

_      The pain was too much and that part of himself in the past took steps to ensure that Eike would not be able to form this unholy alliance. It was all he _could_ do. His body was going into convulsions still, mind half ripped apart by what was being done to it.  Far too fragile flesh and the spirit it housed could not take much more. He was literally cracking under the stress. Even the knowledge that it didn't matter, couldn't matter, would be over soon enough didn't make the pain any easier to bear. The physical pain was matched by the simple humiliation of being unable to stand up to the abuse, the shame of having allowed his captors know how badly they were hurting him._

      "Helena! NO! Stop it!" Eike couldn't stand it any more. "Helena, please!"

      "Why?" the woman's 'voice' was easily heard despite the moaning, gasping sobs that her victim was emitting. "You know what he's done. Why let him get away with it? Even if he's right, if he can wipe away this loop, we still have time to make him pay…"

      "Helena… I…" Eike shook his head. " This is wrong. He hurts us, we torture him… Where does it end?" Some sense of comprehension was hitting him. "God, Helena… this isn't you… I may not be Wagner anymore, but I saw you in the past. You weren't cruel. I know 500 years is a horribly long time to be caught here, but that – at least – was never _his_ fault."

      Slowly, Helena slid her hand free of her victim and regarded Eike. "And what do you propose we do?"

      Eike considered the options. "We have to make him go back into your time, before you died. Make him cure you." He frowned. "But it's not possible with the digipad. Homunculus… listen. You want your freedom? Use your own powers and do what I just said."

      A soft, agonized, chuckle escaped the creature's lips. He was still curled around himself, face hidden in the crooks of his arms, only the elegant tips of his pointed ears visible beneath the tousled hair. "How many times… do I have to… tell you? Not… possible… Honestly… you lot… could drive a saint to homicidal mania."

      _How many times?_ Eike stared at the man, slow comprehension rising. Hugo created him for that purpose, hadn't he? _But with all that power over time it's still impossible? WHY?_ A thought that was not, could not, be his echoed in his mind. _Son, Father, Mother… This child… All one thought in their mind and no comprehension of the difficulties involved. No comprehension of what I can and cannot do…_

      "Do it!" Helena's voice made her victim shudder and flinch. Aside from that, however, he didn't move.

      "Can't. Can't can't can't! Not all the demanding in the world can change that. I CANNOT GET INTO THAT TIME!" It obviously took an effort of will far beyond anything Eike possessed, but he sat up straight and glared at the nothingness around them. 

      _Oh god… what's happening to him?_ Beneath Homunculus' skin were myriad cracks, an antique porcelain beginning to shatter from inside, a ruby glow – lurid against the pallor of his skin – limned the cracks as if the fire within his body was trying to escape.

      Seemingly unaware of , or not caring about, the way his body was self-destructing, Homunculus continued. "No amount of coercion can make my power other than what it is!"

      Eike had _never_ seen Homunculus in a rage before, though he had a strange moment of deja-vu that told him Wagner had. He didn't pull back, though, confident that there wasn't much Homunculus could do to him right now – that, even if he could, it was about to be wiped out. "I am bound by the times in which I exist," the created being practically spat at him, "You saw what happened to me when you tried to drag me to that when. Only the fact that _you_ or a close enough version of you, exists there allows _you_ to make the jump. I left you that memory so you wouldn't try it again, you thrice damned fool!"__

      "SILENCE!"

      Eike shook his head at Helena's interruption. "No, let me talk to him. Don't interrupt." He looked at Homunculus, saw how the pale flesh was cracking – flaking away – and wondered how he was managing to stay in one piece. "You switched the babies," he protested.

      "I lied." The words were simple. Direct. The truth, Eike knew.

      "I don't understand… Please. Won't you explain…"

      "What is this? Bad master, good master?" Homunculus demanded mockingly. "Do you think to get on my good side? I have none left. After thousands of years of this damned eternal looping I… HAVE… NONE… LEFT!" 

_      He wouldn't ordinarily allow himself such emotional excesses. The fire within was barely manageable as it was. Required a constant balancing act in Realtime to prevent it from burning out of control and shattering the fragile time-resistant shell that contained it. Only the knowledge that his salvation was on its way, the shifting wave of paradox flowing up the timestream, allowed him to let the rage of millennia spill free. So many years being used and abused. And he thinks _he_ has troubles? Too angry to think. Too angry to listen to the boy's inner voice, all he knew was the raging fury that driven his existence for so many years._

      "Does that mean you had any to begin with? Any human sympathy, any comprehension of what your endless looping is doing to the rest of us?" Eike shook his head. "No, don't bother trying to answer that. I know what you'll say. You're not human. You don't understand human feelings."

      "Don't you _dare_ lecture me, Eike. You have no idea of the force with which you play!" Ruby eyes regarded him and there was a flash of such agonized hurting at their depths that it hit Eike through the heart with almost physical force. "Time isn't a game. You can't just pick up the pieces and go home if it doesn't flow the way you want it to."

      Truth again. Bitter, agonizing truth. Still, there had to be a solution. Had to be an answer. An idea was niggling at him, trying to burgeon into a full-fledged thought. "We can always change the loop one more time. Your stone survives the trip. Hugo can create you, you can…" He paused, forced himself to choke out the words, "you can create me then become the stone. I'll take you into the past and tell Hugo he has to create you in the future, then use the stone to heal Helena." He could see a problem with that, not so much in the loop itself, but in what it meant to Homunculus.

      The way Homunculus' face seemed to – well it couldn't pale any further, but – the way it tightened in on itself, confirmed his thoughts. "Oh, really…"

      "And to keep it all under control, I can tell Hugo to put a geas on you to keep things going that way."

      A faint sob of breath escaped Homunculus' throat. "You can't…"

      "I'll find a way. You've done us enough damage. It's high time we returned the favor." Eike forced his voice to stay hard, cold. "Look at it this way. You'll get to live for a little while, anyway." _His anger makes him honest. I need the truth he's hiding behind his pride._

      "Am I supposed to thank you? To be grateful? For what?" The ruby eyes narrowed. "For the privilege of a few short hours repeated ad infinitum, ad _nauseum_? Been there, did that. I'm not – ever – doing it again." 

      _Been there… did that… He tried, didn't he, tried to cure Helena, to satisfy his creator… Only to watch it all fall down when the paradox hit… That's the answer… the paradox… He can't break it because they wouldn't… won't…  listen…_

      Perfect lips curled into a sneer, but the voice… it ached with despair. "We can't win, Eiche. We can't break even and we can _not_ quit the game." 

      Eike seemed to feel a surge of something pouring towards them at a high rate of speed. _About to be wiped out again. Just as I'm beginning to understand. Damn it all to _hell_!_

      "Stop it. Now!" Helena growled from around them, seeming to sense the approaching wave as well. "Keep this time going or I'll find a way to twist your life into a living hell!"

      A faint, sour, laugh. "You mean it isn't already? You seem to think I like this…" Homunculus shook his head, the tiny cracks widening, fire beginning to seep between like lava around a volcano. "No hope to stop it, Helena. Rip my mind out by its roots if you like. You only have a minute or so left and it won't change what my past Self has done."

      Eike 'listened' to the approaching change, _like a freight train coming down on us_, and took a deep breath. "Homunculus… one more chance. Please. One more, that's _all_ I ask. Let me make this work. For all of us… For you…" He had an idea. Of all the blessedly worst times, he had an idea. "Please!" _Let me remember. Please let me remember this. Remember my idea. Let me…_

      Then the wave, and oblivion, hit.


	3. Of Futures Past

Out of the Shadows (version 2.0)

A "Shadows of Destiny" Revamp Fic

(Shadows of Destiny is copyrighted to Konami)

By

Deborah Brown

      A slender blonde walked through the streets of Lebensbaum, his long green coat hanging around his slim body. Behind him a shadow lurked, small, childish but with malice in its heart. Something flew out at the man – aimed for his back.

      Eike steeled himself, expecting the blade in his back. He remembered… by god he remembered… had Homunculus agreed?

      When the ball hit him and flung him to his knees, he knew Homunculus had.

_      Why was he allowing this? Those emerald eyes, that mind, born partly of his own will and partly of Wagner's destroyed Self, pleading for a chance, so certain the answer was in his grasp. It was a mistake, surely, to try again. He was afraid. Even though he knew nothing done in this time line would be permanent, even if it could be, if he didn't will it, he was still afraid. Those eyes… Why do I want to trust them?_

      Eike sat up, glared at the boy whose ball had hit him. Hugo's 'twin' again, young, innocent eyed and a little scared at the way Eike was looking at him. "Aww, fer crying out loud, kid. Don't do that." He tossed the ball back and got to his feet while the boy scampered off. It seemed things were back to that first time when he'd thought things were fixed. But… _Oh, hello…_ there was something in his pocket. Pulling it out he found he was holding the digipad again. No sign of the pentagram on it, but he'd have been a fool to expect that. _Does this mean I won't have to _die_ to get where I need to be?_

      ::_Don't disappoint me, Eike,_:: a voice seemed to say in his head as the blonde gazed at the digipad. ::_Put me in _her_ grasp again and _I'll_ make _your_ next life a living hell._::

      "I… I need the stone… Where…" He wasn't sure, but hoped Homunculus was listening.

      ::_You have it._:: Then silence. A waiting, watching, silence.

      Eike took a deep breath. Reached in his pocket. Something cylindrical and familiar met his fingers and he pulled it out. The ruby stone, warm to the touch, a faint pulsing within it. Homunculus' life force. He swallowed. There was only one answer that would satisfy everyone – that would leave Homunculus free in the end. He concentrated on the digipad. "Take me to the time before Helena died."

_Gone into that pre-creation time again. What was he going to do there? Damned fool for trying again. Twice damned to trust him. Thrice damned to entrust him with the stone… It was a mistake, surely a mistake. He'd have to start over again, wouldn't he? Fool._

      The past again. Terribly familiar. With those irritating women making Margarete's life misery. Eike, though knowing he wasn't really Wagner in this incarnation, couldn't help but be annoyed at their behavior towards the girl who was – sort of – his daughter. He chased them off irately and turned to Margarete. "I need to talk to your father, Miss Wagner. Could you take me to him?"

      "Oh… Father? He's always down in the lab, though…"

      "I know. I have something for him to do." Eike followed the girl to the house as he had so many times before and waited in the vestibule as she went downstairs. Noting a blonde head staring at him from around the corner of the stairs, he smiled at its possessor, oddly unable to hold a grudge against the boy despite the number of times he'd been killed by him. After all, this Hugo had not – yet – gone so far around the bend as to commit those deeds. Given that this attempt worked, he never would. "Hi, Hugo. You really should stop eavesdropping, you know."

      Blue eyes widened. "You know my name? Did my sister…"

      "No. Wait a bit. Let me talk with your father, first."

      A few minutes later he was down in the laboratory. "Doctor Wagner? I have a bargain for you."

      The alchemist gave Eike a stern look. "I agreed to talk with you. If you're trying to offer me something… MY GOD… That's the…"

      Eike looked at the stone in his hand. "The philosopher's stone, yes." He examined Wagner, trying to see some trace of himself in those _old_ features. Green eyes, yes, but a body stooped by age and thickened by time – a face too tired and filled with frustration and old sorrows. If Wagner _was_ him in other paths it was hard to see it in his face. "Listen. I know you want this, that you want to make an elixir to cure your wife, but…"

      "I'm desperate," Wagner admitted. "I'll give you anything you want."

      "Then listen to my story. Then do what I tell you to do. I can't guarantee a resolution. This is the first time I've tried this, but…" At Wagner's slow, bemused, nod, the younger man began to speak.

_This was the longest he'd ever been back in that time. What was he doing there? What kind of plotting was he doing against his fate? Against me… Please, Eike… Not her again. I can't bear that. Not again. He really would have to do something unpleasant to the boy if he betrayed him to that… that thing… Three times in her grip was quite enough. He paced within his tiny realm, the only place where he could move and act without the constricts of Reality working on a body not built to deal with a place so very hard and sharp. Paced and feared. Paced and hoped._

      It took almost an hour of talking, but Eike had finally reached the end. "So," he said. "Here I am with the stone. But you can't use it to cure Helena. You _have_ to distill it and create Homunculus, then ask him to do it."

      "From what you say, Eike," Wagner said consideringly, "this Homunculus is not likely to be cooperative. What good will that do?"

      Eike sighed. This was where he'd been screwing up, those other attempts to get around Homunculus' tangled web. An assumption so deep and far-reaching that it had simply twisted himself deeper. The assumption that this game could be won without Homunculus' total cooperation. And why _should_ he cooperate, given that doing so destroyed him?

      "Doctor Wagner. Imagine yourself being born for only one purpose. Imagine being created to fix a problem in a past you cannot reach and being forced to rely on people who only want you for one thing – to fix their problems. Problems that, once resolved, cause them not to create you. Imagine discovering that every time you try, you just find yourself being wiped out by a time paradox, then created again when the paradox clears, because those people don't know what happened and won't believe you when you tell them. Imagine _remembering_ each and every previous attempt." __

      Wagner frowned. "Are you saying…"

      "What's the purpose of alchemy?" Eike remembered the book he'd read in other lives, knew what it said, but wanted Wagner to answer the question.

      "To create the elixir. To create the stone. To create life…" Wagner paused. "Perfect life. But this Homunculus doesn't sound perfect."

      "I don't know all the details and I don't think he'd tell you – or me – but…. Would _you_ create a perfect life simply to make _your_ life happy? To change your past?"

      "It'd be foolish. A corruption of the… Oh… I see." Wagner shook his head. "I can see that, yes. Hugo is already troubled by his mother's illness – I'm not good with him, she's always been the one he turned to for help. If he were to create this Homunculus towards such an end… No wonder. What an unhappy creature the result must be." The older man's eyes turned desperately sad. "My fault. I've let my need for a cure make me forget my own son. No wonder he hates me. No wonder this Homunculus hates us all."

      That had been the thoughts that had run through Eike's mind in those last moments before the paradox had wiped out that other time. He was just glad he was able to make this man who both was and was not himself understand. Five years from now, after Helena's death, it would have been a doubtful proposition, but then the best solution lay in this time no matter what. "Will you do as I ask, then? We can't prevent his creation. We can't change the fact that we're doing this for ourselves but…" He paused. "I think we might be able to rely on an enlightened self-interest on his part."

      "Yes. At least he won't be given a reason to do worse. Yes, I agree." Wagner held out his hand and Eike dropped the stone into it, careful to avoid touching the other man's hand. He wasn't sure what would happen if a copy touched its original this way, but he wasn't going to risk destruction to find out. "Let us find out if this works. If it does, if he agrees and heals Helena the way you hope, then we will have to discuss our next move."

_      Days now – or the nearest equivalent to it in this place. Days and days and days of waiting for something. Surely Eike didn't think he could stay there forever? Without a death event to pull him back, of course, perhaps the boy could. Did he hope to break the chain that way? And why do I trust that isn't his plan? _

      The decanter filled and prepared, the philosopher's stone dropped in to stew slowly in the fire's heat. It had taken days of waiting but at last a humanoid figure had formed in those ruby tinted waters. Heat and fire and Wagner's blood – the last taken in careful increments to feed the reforming life. "He's almost ready," Wagner murmured as he peered into the decanter. "I see some movement."

      Eike nodded and wondered if it would be wise to have everyone else removed from the house. _No. I think all that destruction was the result of something Homunculus did, not the experiment itself. Hugo certainly didn't cause an explosion when he created Homunculus in that other time._ "All right. I'm going to get out of sight, just in case. Remember what we discussed."

      The alchemist was obviously concentrating on the decanter, but he took a quick moment to glance up at Eike and smile. "Yes. Of course." He looked back at the awakening Homunculus, "I'm going to help him out. He might hurt himself trying to break free." Carefully, Wagner removed the lid and waited for the body within the decanter to move. As it did, he reached in and – with infinite care – slid his hands under the creature's arms and lifted it upwards. "Easy…" he murmured as the body in his hands rose out of the water and came to startled life. Fear crossed the pale face and Homunculus struggled to pull free, then stared in bewildered shock at his new 'creator'.

_      Those hands were so… gentle. No one had ever lifted him from the decanter before. No one had ever treated him with such tender concern. It shook him to the core. It frightened him, but something _else_ frightened him more. His awareness of other possibilities in this time was gone. What had they done to him? No other patterns to read, to pick and choose… just this… gentleness. He could take the cruelty, the abuse. This kindness he could not bear… Didn't even dare a look forward, to see what might come of this._

      Set on a nearby desk, Homunculus' slender body was trembling. His voice, small, frightened, broke the silence as Wagner gazed at him. "This… isn't…" Then he straightened. "So, you must be my new master. How many centuries has it been? What do you want? Gold? Women? Power?" He was, Eike realized, falling back on the old familiar ways because he didn't know what else to do.

      "What I _want_," Wagner murmured almost ruefully, "Is a cure for my wife…" He paused as a sharp, bitter, laugh escaped Homunculus' lips. "Yes?"

      "I can't do it. I cannot reach her…" There was a pause and Eike decided it was time to step forward, to make sure the slender man knew this wasn't the time he expected at all. "You… you're… who are…"

      "Think about it. If you think really hard you should be able to see who I am and why I'm here." Eike kept his tone light, not daring to offend or frighten his creator – _and I've accepted that, haven't I?_ he realized almost serenely – not to frighten him further than necessary. This was new, untried. If it was to succeed, it absolutely required Homunculus to cooperate. "As well as _when_ we are."

      The ruby eyes widened and Homunculus sagged. "I see… So… now you'll force me to destroy myself curing her…"

_      All right, so it might be possible for once. Might even be the solution. Still, so many years – no centuries – of fighting kept him from relaxing into this pattern, to accept it as it was. He knew these people. Knew what they would do to him in so many other times and places. How dare he trust? Besides, he wasn't even sure what was wrong with the woman. If it was beyond his capacity to heal then what was the point of trying? Changing reality took strength of more than will and his fragile body had only just been reborn in this time. The strain might kill him._

      Eike paused, startled. "Will it? You've got all that power… I'm your creation. In other timelines I'm Doctor Wagner, turned young. If you can do all that…"

      There was silence and Homunculus looked from one man to the other and sagged even further. "Those things take all my strength. They nearly kill me. Why should I risk myself to this new possibility when – for all their pain – those other loops at least grant me a few centuries of peace?"

      Eike didn't know how to answer that. Homunculus was so used to the trap that – like a wild animal too used to the cage – he was fighting possible freedom out of fear of the unknown. Fortunately, if Eike had no answer, Wagner seemed to. "Homunculus, Eike has told me much. Told me of your creation. Of the many loops you've created in order to escape me… my son… my wife. I know you must be struggling desperately to survive."

      "Hmph. And do you expect me to be grateful for your pity? So grateful I'll cheerfully do your bidding? Oh yes, quite humorous." Homunculus turned away, crossing his arms and looking stubbornly away from the two men.

      _He's as bad as the rest of us. Present him with a solution that could leave us all satisfied and he _still_ fights._ Eike shook his head. "Homunculus…" he started to say, but Wagner stopped him.

      "He's afraid," the alchemist said at Eike's raised brow. "I can't blame him." Turning to the slender man who was studiously ignoring them, he continued, "No. I don't expect your gratitude. You have no reason to be grateful. None of us have given you a reason. So – I'll leave it up to you. Choose between taking this chance and resolving our problem in a way that helps us all, or go back to your endless looping."  Despite the sternness of the words, there was gentleness in his tone.

      Eike reached out for the thin man's hand, felt him start at the rare touch. "Listen to me, Homunculus. I don't know if you remember – or know, rather – what happened to bring us to this point, but think of this as a last ditch chance. If you die of curing her it just means the pattern goes back to what it was. What have you got to lose?"

_      What _have_ I got to lose? He wondered about that. Nothing really, except this one last hope. That was his real fear. As long as he didn't attempt it he wouldn't have to see this final hope fail. The fear of trying and failing was almost more than he could bear._

      Slowly those eyes closed and the expression on that pale face was agonized. "Oh… very well. Take me to her. Just don't expect me to cure her sight along with everything else."

      Eike watched the thin form touching Helena's hand. Homunculus was seated on the bed, his incredibly light weight not even denting the blankets. The ruby eyes were closed and a look of concentration filled his face. "They'll call it cancer in the future," he murmured. "So deep. I don't know…" Eike kept his silence, letting Homunculus make his own decisions, not rushing the created being. "So many cells… What spirit… to fight so long…"

      Helena's face was a study of confusion. "Who… who is this, Wolfgang?" Her free hand moved, trying to reach out and touch her husband. Wagner moved forward quickly, took her other hand. "It hurts…"

      "I can't help that," Homunculus gasped with a touch of asperity. "Your body is riddled with the cancer. I have to… to…"

      "No," she whispered. "It's hurting _you_. I can feel it…"

      Eike had a feeling that if Homunculus had been human his body would have been soaked with sweat. "Be quiet, woman," the tiny man responded. "Don't distract me." He was trembling with effort, eyes closed against distraction. As Helena moved to protest he repeated the order. "Quiet!"

_      She was strong. So very strong. The problem was, that strength was a constant reminder of her other self, that future undead thing that awaited him should he fail here. The fear of that 'memory' was terrible. He struggled against it, even as he fought to deal with the tiny cells that had turned against her body. Even with someone he'd had no history of fearing he'd have been hard put to deal with this illness. And I have to get every cell. Change the genes to prevent them from repeating this. Regenerate the healthy cells to replace what is destroyed. He trembled with the effort and felt his lifeforce fading._

      _He's not strong enough,_ Eike realized, seeing failure staring them in the face. Maybe fate really _wasn't_ changeable. Maybe… "Wait… Homunculus, if you created my body you can use my strength, can't you?"

      Ruby eyes opened and gave him a startled look. Then a slow nod and one thin hand reached back – shaking horribly – to accept Eike's. The draw was immediate and agonizing. _Is this even half of what he's experiencing?_ Eike wondered, clenching his teeth against the pain and determinedly holding on.

      "Yes… That's it. Set the cells against themselves instead of the rest of the body… Now… regenerate the healthy ones… It can be done… It _must_…" A final gasp and Homunculus slid face forward onto the bed, lying sprawled against Helena's body. Eike fell to his knees, one hand still clutching Homunculus'.

      Clutching the coverlets, face buried against them, sweat soaking his body the way it hadn't Homunculus', Eike listened. Silence, as if the world had stopped momentarily. Then, peculiar, agonized, gasping breaths. "Oh…"

      "Helena? HELENA!" Sound of someone leaping forward, vibration of the bed. Voice sobbing relief and happiness. "Oh Helena!"

      "Wolfgang? Beloved?"

      Eike felt a surge of relief at that voice. Relief rapidly dropping to fear as he realized that Homunculus wasn't moving. He forced himself upright, leaned over the thin body collapsed half across Helena's legs. He barely glanced at the man and woman clinging to each other.

      "Oh god… is he all right?" Helena's voice sounded so rich, so strong. "Wolfgang? Help him!" The voice's tone echoed through Eike, awakening a memory of another life, a life not his own. _Wagner's life,_ he reminded himself. He'd have to find his own way, in the future, if this plan had really worked, but right now the most important piece of that plan lay limp and motionless and _no. not dead. PLEASE not dead._ Homunculus was required in order to finish the loop, to make it work. More, Eike simply didn't want him dead. All the anger over past mistreatment had been wiped away. _He gave me this chance. Took the chance himself – knowing the risk. Don't let it fail either of us… Don't die!_

      "If you keep shaking me like that I _will_ die," Homunculus managed to whisper. "Are you trying to break me, Eike? Have you forgotten how easily you could?" His eyes were still closed and he looked more like a doll than ever, a doll left sprawled on its owner's bed and forgotten. Though no real doll would chide its owner in such sardonic tones.

      "Sorry… I'm sorry…" Eike babbled. He slid his hands – ever so gently – under the thin body and lifted it up, cradling the created being against him lightly. "Doctor… Is there a place he can lay down?"

      There was a long silence in the room. Homunculus because – as he'd put it when Eike had lain him on Hugo's bed – he was ready to fall apart any minute if he didn't get some rest, Eike because he didn't dare interrupt that recovery. Once Wagner had looked in on them, once Margarete and about three times Hugo, who seemed to find a strange fascination in the being he would – one day – create. _Though he doesn't know it yet._

      Sitting on the single chair in the room, Eike watched Homunculus silently. The first time he'd seen Homunculus he'd thought the man looked like a piece of Dresden china. The comparison was all the more certain right now, in the cool features and unmoving form. Too thin. Too delicate. Too fragile. _How does he manage to move at all? Why such a fragile body?_

_      Too weak to block out the feelings and thoughts his creation was sending at him. Too tired to deal with the emotions. Eike, you're worse than a mother hen. Maybe he would do better not to create such a tight link. Though – perhaps – it was a good thing he had. The energy Eike had provided had been an absolute requirement to his survival. Now if I can just get him to stop worrying about me. That worry left him strangely content, though. He'd never had anyone care about him before. Still, it needed to go away, to allow him to focus on time and 'feed' on its passing._

      "The power of time… would destroy mere human flesh… This shell is the only thing that can contain my essence without being destroyed by it." Homunculus answered Eike's question without having to hear it. "Why don't you stop staring at me and go get something for _your_ all too human body?" He didn't open his eyes or move anything but his lips, but if he had Eike knew his expression would have held much of the old sardonic sneer that – he was beginning to realize – was a cover for vulnerability. "And it is _not_."

      "Sure it isn't," Eike replied, oddly enough not finding Homunculus' awareness of what he was thinking strange. _Though I ought to. Is this because he created me?_

      "Of course it is…" Homunculus looked at him, letting his head fall sideways just enough, looking like a... "And I am not a doll." A thin exhausted sigh escaped the small man's lips. "Eike, go downstairs. You're tired. You're projecting and I need rest."

      "But…" Eike was worried about the man, what if he needed help?

      Another thin sigh. "Eike, I will be creating you someday in the future. That makes me your… ah… parent of sorts. So – as your parent I'm telling you – go downstairs. Eat. Drink. Rest. Do whatever it is you humans do to recover from stress. Leave me alone for a while to recover in my way. The only thing I need right now is time and _no_ distractions."

      Eike blinked, then sighed in turn. He did seem to be bothering Homunculus more than helping him. A faint smile of approval crossed the little man's face. "All right. I'm going. Just don't expect any father's day cards." He got to his feet and stumbled, wearily, to the door.

      "Mother's day might be more apropos," Homunculus grumbled. "But I don't want any of those, either."

_      He could still feel Eike's presence, but it was no longer an insistent, niggling, worried flow of thoughts in his mind. The linkage was stronger now, whether because Eike was too tired not to project or because of his use of the boy's lifeforce. It didn't matter, though. Rest mattered. It would take a while, years probably, before he was strong enough to do any more manipulation of reality. Strength to manipulate this awkward shell of a body wouldn't take nearly so long, thankfully._

      "Hugo and Margarete are with Helena. I think we can talk now."

      Eike went to the door to the sitting room and looked out into the hall, then checked the other door in the kitchen, aware of the bemused looks Wagner was giving him. "Hugo eavesdrops. I don't want him to hear any of this yet. Let him get older, better able to deal with it. I think he'll still have to create Homunculus in the future if this timeline's to stay solid."

      Wagner raised a brow. "So he does," he agreed wryly. "He's curious. As curious as I was as a boy. And not polite enough to realize he shouldn't. I'm afraid I wasn't either." He considered the matter. "Let's go for a walk. If we stand in the town square we should have a decent chance of not being overheard, even if he _does_ try to follow us."

      A few minutes later the two men walked side by side, putting themselves as far from the buildings as possible and avoiding the punishment cage where a young woman was still displayed for her daring dress. "That's going to be a beautiful tree," Eike commented once they were sure they were safe from prying ears or eyes. He gestured at the tiny sprig of leaves that stood in the center of the square, only just placed by the Squire's gardener.

      "Is it?" Wagner glanced the tree over. "I half wish I could see it."

      "In some timelines you do, remember? The only reason I'm not you is that you didn't ask for immortality last time through. Or is it this time?" Eike shook his head. "I've gone through this so many times and I _still_ don't understand _half_ of what I've experienced."

      Wagner nodded. "Your explanation is clear enough though, to tell me that we have a lot to be thankful for right now. Given, of course, that we can figure out a way to keep paradox from wiping us out, yes?"

      "Yes." Eike nodded. "I _think_ everything I've done so far will have to remain the same. To the point of my not remembering this conversation. I have to convince you to cooperate and that may require my desperation in order to do so."

      Wagner watched the skies above for a silent moment. "I believe it had an effect. You are a man of integrity, of great honesty and you feel the need for this solution very much. That need made you eloquent – no, passionate. If someone had simply told me that story without that passion I might well have ignored it. I have long been desperate to save my wife. If I thought you were mistaken, I might have broken my word and risked the elixir instead."

      Eike whistled. "Oh man. I'm glad you didn't." He shrugged. "Then I definitely can't afford to remember – even if it _had_ worked. I wonder – has it already and I'm just going through the path assigned to me?"

      ::_No. It is the first time._::

      Blinking, startled at the thought placed in his head, Eike glanced around, half expecting to find Homunculus there and saw no one. _Oh, yes, he can talk in my head if he wants_. "Uh… would you tell me the truth if it wasn't? And why are you talking to me when you need to rest?" At Wagner's confused expression he smiled ruefully and tapped his head. "Homunculus. Just a moment."

      ::_You're far enough away not to be so much of a disturbance, Eike. And… probably not. Still, are you not better off regarding this as the first time no matter what? Over-confidence now would be a mistake._:: There was a faint, rueful, tone in Homunculus' 'voice'. ::_It was over-confidence that caused me to speak in a way that made Wagner wish for something other than immortality and forced… would have forced…  me to create you. While we are fortunate that that mistake has led us here, further errors could ruin everything._::

      Eike nodded. "Okay. I get your point." He looked at Wagner. "He agrees with me about not knowing if this is the first time, so that's not a problem."

      "Then our next problem is seeing to it that Hugo creates _him_." Wagner sighed. "The difficulty is, Hugo has been disinterested in the Art. I'd had such high hopes for him when he was younger, but in the last few years, since Helena got sick… Oh… of course."

      Eike could see the alchemist's thoughts clearing. "It's alchemy that saves her – in essence – and I bet if he knows that it's up to _him_ to fix things then the entire world could stand in his way and he wouldn't give up." He grinned, almost laughed. "No, I don't need to bet on a sure thing. He's not going to be trying to kill me in the future, but he wouldn't have been able to do the things he did in those other timelines if he weren't capable of concentrating his energies into the effort. Turn that strength of will onto this problem and there's no way we can fail."

      Wagner's eyes held the same bright pleasure Eike knew his own were. "Hugo is not stupid. If anything, he's smarter than I am. With Helena's help, I'm _certain_ I'll be able to teach him the basics. After that… I believe – no, I am _certain_ – he'll manage the rest."

_      He lay and listened to the two men thru his link with the physical and psychic copy of the other bemusedly, with a growing feeling of… Fondness? Intriguing development, that… He was past fighting the flow now, could feel the changes up ahead. It was far from certain, would be no matter how deep this pattern engraved itself into time. A mistake could still ruin everything. _

_      He'd have to think, long and hard, about exactly what Hugo would need in order to create him, what paths would bring the boy to that point without souring the spirit that – in other times – had turned dark and willfully cruel. Not because I care about him, of course. But it is in my interests, after all. There couldn't be too many changes, of course. The reasons, the feelings, might differ, but the young man's path would have to remain much the same if he was to succeed. He'd help. He'd have to, though carefully, in ways that didn't create paradoxes._

      After a long, comfortably silent walk with the man he was copied from, the two men returned to the Wagner house with a joint sense of determination. Eike wasn't sure what he was going to do next, but he was certain that things were going to work out right for a change. "What's next for you, then, Eike?" Wagner asked as they entered the building.

      "I… I'm not sure." The blonde frowned puzzledly as he gazed around the neat foyer, a feeling of quiet contentment coming over him. This place felt so much like home. A home he had never had. An ache started in his chest. He would like to stay. Would like to and dared not.

      ::_You won't be harmed by doing so,_:: Homunculus' voice touched his mind, tone carefully neutral. ::_These people would take you in, and gladly._::

      He looked up in the direction of Hugo's room, grinned and thought back, ::_Get thee behind me, Satan._::

      For a moment there was no response. ::_Oh _really_. In this… Hmmm. In this day and age I suppose the accusation _would_ be apropos. If I were a demon, that is…_:: There was a faint edge of pure humor in the mental tone. ::_It probably isn't a good idea for you to stay, though. I'm not sure what effect your presence in this part of the time line would have if you did._::

      Eike sighed and nodded. "I'll be going back to my time. I'm not sure what I'll do there, but I think I'll figure something out." He looked at the man he was copied from. "Say my goodbyes, please? Take care of Homunculus, would you?"

      As the alchemist nodded, Eike reached into his pocket for the digipad and pressed the buttons.


	4. Epilogue

Out of the Shadows (version 2.0) -- Epilogue

A "Shadows of Destiny" Revamp Fic

(Shadows of Destiny is copyrighted to Konami)

By

Deborah Brown

      Cold. Unexpectedly cold, considering the time he was intending to go was mid-spring. Surrounded by snow and… "Oh god. Not you again." The movie guy. Oleg. _What's going on here? Why… Oh, wait, Miriam… Am I needed to save her, still?_ He'd done so so many times in other lives – perhaps it was necessary for some reason to do so here. Not that he really needed it to be necessary. She'd been a nice lady, too nice to die at some assassin's bullet. Too nice to lose her new baby... He talked, hurriedly, "Make a movie about Time Travel… A man trying to find out his own killer, a suspense thriller… romance… doesn't matter. Can I go now?"

      Oleg's stunned expression as Eike ran off was priceless. Especially considering the words he heard the young movie producer mutter. "But I didn't _ask_ him anything. Still… Fascinating… Yes, yes… I'll do it!" Eike would have been lost in a fit of hysterical giggles if he didn't know he had a place he had to be.

_      That was one thing he'd have to grant about the boy. He thought fast when he had to. Moved fast too. Those long legs of his are… impressive. He felt the faintest of envies for that human frame and human strength, but only the faintest. He had gifts that – usually – made up for his other lacks._

      Long legs carried the young man forward as fast as they could. Most of the time they were a nuisance, awkward, requiring difficult contortions to bend comfortably when sitting and often causing him to stumble when he misjudged a step. Right now, though, they were a blessing, allowing him to rush down the street where he knew Miriam was likely to turn and be walking with her baby. _There…_ The honey gold hair and warmly wrapped form was unmistakable – he'd run after her so _often_. So close to the moment, to the place…

      ::_NOW EIKE!_::

      He didn't really _need_ the voice in his mind to know what he had to do. A rapid tackle brought Miriam down just as a shot rang out.

_      Child flying through the air. Tiny body flailing as it flew. He reached out through each moment, careful not to allow the baby gather enough momentum to damage him and caught her, feeling himself thrown backwards – into the wall. Rolling through the snow Cold… too cold… and managed, somehow, to come up to a sitting position. No sign of the shooter, but then there never was. I swear, if I ever find out who did it… _

_      He leaned against the tree, knowing he didn't have to do more,  feeling Dana's tiny warmth against his chest, feeling spreading wetness. Oh… lovely. Do you have to do that _every_ time you brat? He sighed. It seemed some things, like being barfed on by a squalling, kicking, little monster of a baby, simply couldn't be changed. Though there's one thing I'm not doing again. Eike can come and get her. No carting the brat around and dropping her into a car because he couldn't manage the weight any longer. Not when Eike was there to take her back to her family._

      Eike sat up. "Are you all right?" he asked the woman lying on the ground amid the snow. People were approaching, the excitement of the moment drawing them. He could see Eckart running towards them, panic in his voice and eyes.

      "You… you saved me! You…" Miriam's blue eyes met his with the expression he'd seen so many times. Relief, gratitude suddenly changing to fear as she realized, "DANA… the baby! Where…"

      Eike glanced around, getting to his feet and half-ignoring the Eckarts' babble over each other and their missing child. Where was she? Surely Homunculus wouldn't be so cruel as to… A flash of dark moved out of the corner of his eye, in the small cul-de-sac where he'd once found Homunculus after Hugo had revealed himself. Like before, the thin form was leaning against the tree. Like before, his body was bent over its angular knees in an attitude of exhaustion. Unlike before, there was something in his lap. Something that moved and squirmed and… "Wait here," he told the two in front of him. "I'll find her."

_So tired. Even this little bit of effort… He'd never bothered to catch her like that before. The child had been injured in those other times, though, and there was no reason to repeat it. Not that I care. I just don't want to hear another of Eike's patented lectures on ethics and morality. Steps were approaching, moving quietly, tentatively. "Oh. Hello Eike. How are you doing? I'm doing absolutely lousy, thank you for asking."_

      Eike knelt, trying to peer into Homunculus' face, uncertain of what to say. He'd seen the patterns in the snow as he'd approached, the point where his creator had hit, the way he'd rolled into the cul-de-sac. "Are you going to be all right? That was risky. You could have hurt yourself."

      "Oh for… I can't do anything to please you, can I?" Homunculus looked up and, despite the words, there was a faint tone of humor behind them that told Eike he wasn't nearly so annoyed as he might seem. His face, Eike noted with relief, showed no sign of stress, no sign of any damage that would destroy him before he could put the finishing touches on the loop by creating Eike. "Take her, would you? She's already thrown up on me once," Homunculus added, plaintively.

      Managing not to laugh outright, Eike picked up the baby. "Come on, Dana. Let's get you home. Then it's my turn." He paused, worriedly, "That is if you don't need any help…"

      "No… I'll be fine. You go on. I'll meet you in the square."

_      Hugo had turned out amazingly better, even likable in much the same way Eike was. Coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not. There were ties of genetics and memory and blood itself to tie everyone involved together. The young man had followed in his father's footsteps and had succeeded at last in the quest. It had taken him years, but determination was his strongest suit and with a goal as worthy as the one he had, nothing could hold him back. If anything, his greatest difficulty in ensuring Hugo succeeded was keeping the boy from killing himself with overwork._

_      With Hugo's effort completed, there was little more to be done and he had done it, choosing his time carefully so as to create no extra ripples in the stream. Now there was just one last person to satisfy. Not for the loop. That was set, solid and flowing smoothly. The soft murmur of time flowing around him throughout his existence was sweet and comforting, the voice of a lover when the quarrels were over, when all was forgiven. Oh dear, how very poetic, he mocked himself. Even if it were true._

_      One last person to satisfy…_

      The timestream deposited him into semi-darkness and – momentarily – he thought he'd been returned to Homunculus' realm. Then he realized where he was. _The town square. Light blocked by the tree that I didn't have to prevent existing… No more flowers. No more fugly statue…_ He stared around, wondering what to do next.

      "Hello, Eike."

      He spun around and saw the figure seated in the branch above him. "Someday I'll figure out what it is about you and high places."

      "I'm small. It's easier to avoid being stepped on. And to look down on people." The smile that accompanied the explanation was amused as Homunculus stepped down from the branch of the tree and walked down non-existent steps to stand looking up at Eike. "You, especially, are hard to talk to from this position. You strain my neck."

      A quick, embarrassed, grin _And why should I be embarrassed anyway?_ "Blame my height on Wagner. If he weren't so blessed tall, I wouldn't be, now would I?"

      "No, you wouldn't." Homunculus smiled back. "I suppose I could blame Hugo, too, since it was he who made me so tiny. But then, this shell can only be stretched so far."

      Eike eyed his creator. "That's a new look." Homunculus had ditched the only costume he'd ever worn in favor of a simple black turtleneck and jeans with red leather jacket.

      "Yes," the smile broadened and Homunculus looked pleased as he examined his sleeve. "I thought I might as well get with the times, as it were. Celebrate our movement into the next century – at long last – with a new wardrobe. There is, after all, absolutely no reason why I should look like something out of the Arabian Nights anymore."

      " Is it really over, then?"

      A small chuckle at the plaintive query. "That depends. Are you planning on lying down in the middle of the road for those two young idiots to run over you, again?"  Eike's glare was palpable and elicited a surprising, "Sorry, sorry. But I never could understand why you – or rather why that Eike – did that."

      "I hardly know myself. Stress, probably. Wiped out what few braincells I… he… had left." Eike shrugged. "You haven't answered my question."

      "Oh. Of course." The sweet smile returned full force. "Of course it's not over. It's only just beginning." Ruby eyes turned and gazed gently at him. "The loop is smooth, however, set and – given no stupidity on our part by attempting to make further adjustments – stable enough to stay that way."

      Relieved, Eike took a deep breath of air. He was definitely not planning on lying down in the roadway to celebrate it, but he did feel a great deal of pleasure in the simple fact of being alive. "So, what next?"

      "How should I know? Or if I do, why should I tell you? Do you want to play time travel games with the future as well as the past?" Homunculus gazed off, seeming to take as much pleasure in the moment as Eike.

      "Hmph. Not a chance – I never even want to hear the term "timetravel" again. Okay, but… Oh, never mind. I'll figure something out. Wonder if Mr. Eckart needs help at the museum… Or is it a library…" The sound of girlish laughter interrupted his babble. Glancing up, he saw three girls. That rather bizarrely dressed woman from the square, the candy shop owner and… Dana. He stared at her, amazed at the difference. Blonde hair so like and unlike Miriam's. Blue eyes like… _Like Helena's_… More importantly, the faint expression of sour dissatisfaction gone entirely from her face. She looked up and saw him and stopped, a smile of pure friendliness on her face. _So… beautiful._

      "Don't drool, Eike. Go and talk to her. She gives you such a look. If that isn't an invitation to the movies, I don't know what is."

      "But… I…"

      "I'll be back at the house. If you think about it you'll know which house that is. The key's under the mat. Try not to stay out _too_ late, would you?"

_      Watching the boy hurry off, he shook his head. It might not be possible to give Eike a proper past, but what could be done, would be. He owed that child. Owed him more than Eike was likely to ever fully comprehend. Owed him and would pay the debt as best he could. He looked into his – their – future and, throughout time, smiled sadly. It wouldn't be perfect. Time did not allow for perfect lives. But it would be a good life. A long, reasonably happy life, even without interference. That would have to be enough. And, when I think about it, it is._


End file.
